Mother Nature
by Nienna Carnesir
Summary: Hell, Earth, and Heaven. If they have angels and demons, why not mother nature too? Dean and Sam get to meet the Earth Spirit, Maya, also born to the hunter's life. Soon they find themselves attached to a prophecy that's older than time.
1. Chapter 1

Sam frowned at his phone, "It's Ash." Dean glanced at his younger brother briefly before returning his attention to the road again, "Well we're near the roadhouse, see what he's got."

"Hello?" Sam said into the phone's receiver. There was so much loud noise from the other end that even Dean could hear. Both Helen and Ash were shouting into the phone. Sam pulled the phone from his ear quickly and the brothers stared at it for a horrified moment until the noise quieted.

Sam put the phone back to his ear, "Do you mind trying that again except without the yelling and maybe just one person?" Ash's voice came through much quieter.

After several 'uh huhs' and a 'we're on our way there now', Sam closed his phone.

"What's going on?" Dean asked.

Sam seemed confused and a little perturbed, "Ash's cousin was kidnapped. He thinks she's been gone about a week. That was the last time he talked to her. She calls regularly but tries not to get mixed in with the hunters too much. She apparently had some bad episodes with demons and hunters as a kid."

"What?" Dean asked, incredulously.

Sam shrugged and leaned back in his seat, "Let's just get there and see if we can get a better explanation."

"All right then," Dean said and off they went towards the establishment that Helen, her daughter Jo, and Ash called home.

The lights were out and it seemed like the roadhouse had closed up for the night.

"That's a weird sight," Dean muttered and went up the steps. The doors were thrown open and Helen motioned for them to come inside.

"Hurry up," she hissed and closed the doors, locking them. Ash was sitting at a table, with Jo next to him watching what he was doing on the screen to the homemade computer. Tons of different papers and pieces of machinery littered the rest of the table top.

"What's going on you guys?" Sam asked and nodded to Helen when she brought around a couple beers for him and Dean. Sam took a chair and peeked over Ash's shoulder on the opposite side Jo was at. He was clicking and typing furiously, his forehead set into what seemed a permanent frown.

"I can't find a trace of anyone mentioning anything locally, at least not close to what we found," Ash muttered. Helen came up and stood next to Dean, "His cousin, Maya, has special abilities. She's the best damn hunter in the world. The only way to get her to submit is to charm and hex the crap out of her, but to do that they have to get past her defenses. She's had similar run ins as a kid, but we had taken precautions for her after her folks died. She's become a lot more defensive about who was around, holy water in just about everything."

"But she was in the garden," Jo said quietly, looking up to her mother, who in turn nodded consent.

"She was in her garden," Helen said, "Which made a fortress for her but, as it happens, at the same time it made her defenseless because there was so much in that blasted thing. Are you sure they're not going to kill her Ash?"

He nodded, "They can't possess her, they can rape her all they want but they can't get her pregnant, and she's had some of the worse beatings I've ever seen someone take, so it's not like they want information out of her. They want to get her to do things for them, it's always the reason." Dean and Sam exchanged a look that spoke volumes of confusion.

"How is she safe from possession and pregnancy? Why is that even something to think about?" Dean asked.

"And what can they get her to do?" Ash sighed and ruffled through some papers and then handed Sam a DVD, "Go look at this." Sam popped the DVD into his own laptop and played the feed on it.  
"It's a security camera," Sam said to Dean who had moved to look over his brother's shoulder. "Is this her?" Dean asked.

There was a girl in a garden, but 'garden' seemed a very small word for what she was working in, it was more a small was a sack brimming full of gardening utensils and a wheelbarrow next to her. She was dressed in shorts and a blouse with gardening gloves over her hands and a scarf tied to her head, her hair trailing to her ass.

"Yeah," Ash muttered but wouldn't look at the feed. Helen came over and tapped the figure of a man who stepped into view, "That's a hunter we know. What she didn't see was this," she said as his eyes turned from black holes to regular irises once more.

"He's possessed," Sam said. "Yep and she had no clue," Helen replied.

"She's way too busy and so surrounded by the noise of the earth she can't hear the demon's taint," Jo said from her seat next to Ash.

Dean frowned at her, "What do you mean?"

"My cousin is Mother Nature personified. She can manipulate plants and make them grow or die, she can also pretty much use that same power to read minds, heal, teleport, move things with the air, you name it she can do it," Ash answered.

Sam frowned and leaned closer to the video, "Dean." Dean stepped around and Sam replayed what he had just seen.

The hunter had tossed a small object to the girl and she caught it and then everything around her started to leap out of the earth, plants thrashing as she seemed to scream while she stared at the thing in her hands.

A small shadow started to cover her skin, as if there was a cloud forming a thin layer over her. The demon possessed man smiled and leaned against the gate he was standing at, as if waiting.

Soon the plants all shriveled and sunk to the ground, curling and dying, while the girl closed her mouth and stared at the man in horror through the film that now covered her.

You could see her clearly enough and her mouth moved to form, "Why?"

Then the man's eyes flicked to black and he advanced into the now dead ground. Some of the withered roots seemed to lift barely as he walked by and she was clutching the sack in her hand, seemingly frozen. "Bastard," they saw her say to him before he struck her in the head and proceeded to drag her away.

Sam stopped the feed and looked to his brother with his brows raised high, "That seemed pretty powerful."

Dean nodded, "What the hell was that thing he tossed her?"

"Hex bag," Ash answered, "Full of things that kills her ability and stops her cold. Assortment of demonic symbols mixed with the right herbs and blood, with old spells and charms, makes her vulnerable if she doesn't sense it before hand. She usually does and it's rare these things are found. She hadn't come into her full power when she was a kid so it made their job easier…but now…" Ash frowned and clenched his hands, "It was freaking early in the morning and she was surrounded by plants. It's stupid she should have seen this! She should have seen..." He seemed to bite off the end of that sentence, glancing at Helen who merely glared half heartedly at him. They had gone through the argument against why the situation shouldn't have even happened earlier.

"So mother nature's weakness is demon blood?" Dean asked.

"No, it's the combination of the blood, charms and the herbs. Mostly the connection she has to the herbs and the blood being soaked into them is what makes her sense it first…but also makes it pack a bigger punch. It blocks, sometimes even sucks the energy out of her. It's like throwing a leech the size of a dog at you but for her spirit," Helen said. Dean made a disgusted face and glanced at the screen to the sweet passive face of the girl as she was unconsciously dragged out of her once lively garden.

"What do you want us to do?" Dean asked Helen. She placed her hands on her hips, "I want you to go get her!"

"FOUND IT!" Ash said, almost shouting and standing up, "She's in Oklahoma, I got a satellite shot of her," he started to scribble things down and then handed the list to Jo. "We need to make this. Dean and Sam can give it to her and it will boost her energy back enough to let her cancel out the hex."

Sam stood up, "What's her name? Do you have a better picture of her?" Ash sorted through things while Jo darted into the back to find the ingredients that had been written down.

"Her name is Maya," Helen answered Sam. "Here," Ash said and handed Dean a few photographs. Dean handed a couple to Sam and studied one, frowning, "She's really pretty," he said quietly.

"Wow, is she almost blind?" Sam asked. He was looking at the milky, almost crystal looking, blue color of her eyes.

"No, that's just the trademark color of their family's eyes, it marks them as special no matter where they are from," Ash said quietly, "and yeah she's beautiful." The last was said almost angrily, as if he wished it weren't so. Dean glanced at Ash and resumed looking at the photo.

The young woman in the photo looked no more than a teenager, her skin was pale but golden tinted as if she was naturally very light but liked the outdoors, her hair was jet black with blue and violet highlights that seemed to have been caught in mid shimmer in the photo. She had a small mouth that bowed in a natural secretive smile, but was fully grinning at the camera. Her eyebrows were black to match her hair and arched dramatically, the blue eyes were pale and an ice like blue, they sparkled like wet crystal in the photo.

"Did you go to school with her?" Dean asked Ash and the other man nodded, frowning. Dean shrugged, "You're protective of her. She's family. It's hard enough to protect a family member, but I bet it was harder having her be a pretty girl." Sam seemed a little embarrassed at the comment and busied himself with putting his laptop away.

Ash nodded and patted Dean's shoulder, "Thanks man." Dean smiled and tucked the picture into an inside pocket of his coat, "So why aren't you guys going after her?"

Helen sighed, "We would but they know we're family. We need someone who doesn't know her or the hunter."

"Then we're your guys," Dean said with a cocky grin.

Ash handed Dean a sheet of papers, "Check the bars around there and quietly ask about the hunter," the mullet haired man said, "They'll have demons all over the place." Sam shouldered his sack and started towards the door.

Dean lingered and took the jar from Jo. It was full of weird green and blue tinted, thick juice. "What's in this?" He asked the young blonde, she shrugged and handed him the list, "Take it if you need more you can always make it."

Dean started to follow Sam out the door before he stopped and turned around, "It has VODKA in it?"

Helen smiled, "Get going and get our girl back."

"When she's free just do what she says! Don't ask questions!" Ash said hurriedly and watched them drive away, "Do you think they'll be able to get her?"

Helen patted Ash's shoulder, "They're the best ones for the job."


	2. Chapter 2

The Winchester brothers found themselves in a small town outside Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A dingy cowboy bar was open and the Winchester boys sat at a secluded table to the side of the front of the bar, close to the entrance, and started to look around.

Sam glanced at his phone, reading the text, "Ash says Maya would be wearing something dark, like a coat with a hood, we won't notice her right away. We have to look for the hunter first, she might be able to slip any forced magic but other than that she's stuck doing what they want her to do."

"That includes hiding her identity huh?" Dean asked and Sam nodded, "Seems like it. It works kind of like a glamour, a cloaking invisibility."

Dean frowned at the booths in the back and saw a flicker of white and navy material that caught the light. When he blinked it was gone.

He turned his head and saw the colors again out of the corner of his eyes. "Sammy, look out of the side of your eyes at the booth back there, what do you see?"

Sam did as his older brother said and frowned, "Weird colors."

Sam glanced fully back there, "But I don't see it when I look directly. You think it's her?"

Dean shrugged, "What's the guy's name?"

"Parker Hale," Sam replied and frowned at the man sitting in the booth in question, "That's the hat from the video. It's our best bet."

"Let me get this," Dean said quietly and walked over to the booth. "Hey are you Hale?"

The man nodded and Dean extended his hand, "Greg. Greg Newton, my brother and I are hunters, we heard of you from a friend of ours on the grapevine." Dean motioned his head to Sam who stood up and moved over.

Dean felt a hand touch his back and heard a quiet movement that sounded like folds of fabric, but didn't see the girl that was obviously passing behind him.

The other man motioned for Dean to sit and Sam picked up a chair to straddle next to the table. The other man frowned at Sam, who grinned and offered his hand.

"My brother Nate," Dean said. "So what brings you to these parts?"

There was a glimmer behind the possessed man's head and the face they had been looking for appeared briefly, "Oh nothing much just a small job about a ghost. Routine burn on a burial site, nothing big really," the possessed man responded.

Dean nodded, "We heard there were a few odd poltergeists in the community on the outskirts of Tulsa," Sam had looked into any odd occurrences and found a few in the towns surrounding their destined locations.

They'd been checking all of Tulsa's bars for half a week now. Ash had assured them that the man hadn't left, as if he was waiting for someone. There was another movement sound that both boys pretended not to hear, Sam felt a hand reach into his pocket and take a vial of the greenish juice Ash and Jo had made.

'Can you hear me?' a voice asked in Dean's head. He touched his ear as if scratching it in an attempt to signal to her he could, "You know, man, we could use the help with these poltergeists. There's three, so we could get these guys in one go."

'Good', the girl said, 'I am bending his will on me. He is weak and didn't use the proper amounts in his charms and hexes on me.'

The man seemed to think about Dean's request.

"No rush," Sam said reassuringly, "Would you like another drink? On us."

The demon possessed hunter glanced behind Dean, 'I'm telling him it's safe,' the voice whispered quietly into Dean's mind, then the hunter smiled and nodded. "Sure," the demon possessed hunter turned and waved to a waitress.

Sam saw the girl shimmer into view and slurp down the vial before vanishing again with a smile.

The whole bar seemed to still.

Each person frozen in mid motion and the man slowly turned, eyes wide, "No."

A wind that seemed to come from no where swirled around the group of hunters and the girl appeared fully with a vicious grin, "Oh yes."

Then the demon was pouring out of the man and flew into the grip of the girl who then shoved the black smoke spirit of the demon into the vial and put the stopper on. With a sizzle her finger seemed to put a stamped seal on it, she tossed it into a garbage nearby.

"Well that was kind of easy," the girl said with a grin and plopped down into the seat in front of Dean.

The bar erupted back into its previous movements just in time for someone to come in and greet friends he knew in the other side of the bar.

"Well now, who are you boys?" She grinned and swiped the hood of her navy blue cloak back and revealed her wavy black hair, "Quick work of Ash to get you here. I've been straining really hard to keep that jerk here."

She patted the hunter that had slumped to the side of the booth, "Hey Parker. Wake up dude."

She shook him a little and the man blinked up at her before he got a horrified look on his face, "Oh my god, Maya, I'm so sorry!"

She merely smiled serenely and seemed to be waiting for something.

There was a smash and suddenly people were screaming and running out of the bar. A man cocked his riffle and seemed to come towards the booths in the back.

"There they are," she muttered and never let her smile falter.

The cloak was loosened and she stood in a flourish of white silks and velvets. She reached towards the guns as if she were going to take them from the men that were advancing, as she tilted her head the guns disintegrated quickly in their owner's hands.

The older hunter motioned for the boys to make tracks to the back exit and Maya followed backwards, grabbing the cloak from the table as she moved quickly to follow her friend and the brothers.

"Damn, she is strong," Dean said.

"I fought tooth and nail in my own damned head against that damn demon," Parker muttered, "Still it didn't do much good letting a few ingredients out of the hexes and charms. She was still stuck, how'd you break them?"

"Magic juice," Sam said, pulling another vial out of his pocket.

"I'm a brilliant pick pocket Parker! You know that," Maya said with a grin over her shoulder.

She stood at the door and pointed at it with her right hand's index finger. From her hand shot lightening that welded the door to the frame.

She quickly finished and then trotted after the boys as there was banging on the other side of the door from the advancing demons.

"They'll figure it out in a few seconds so we need to make tracks and quickly," Maya said to the other hunters.

There was a shot that seemed to echo everywhere, Dean grabbed Maya's hand and darted down with Sam. Parker fell over, a giant bloody hole in his chest.

"NO!" Maya screamed and lightning streaked through the sky striking wildly at the demons with guns that were coming up behind the bar. Black clouds rolled into being from out of nowhere and soon covered the sky, blocking out the fading light of day.

"We gotta get out of here!" Dean said, half shouting over the noise of the lightning and startled screams and shouts from the people at the bar. Maya wiped at her face furiously as tears fell and took Dean's hand, following the brothers as they ducked their way to the car.

"I like your car," she muttered to Dean as they climbed in.

She started to shake and shiver as they drove away.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked after a bit, she shook her head, "I need some more of that crap Ash sent with you." Sam handed her another vial and she downed it with a look of disgust on her face.

"God this stuff sucks, but it's the only thing keeping me going," she muttered and handed the vial back to Sam. Music started when the car did and Maya smiled wistfully, "I love music like this, my dad used to play it all the time."

"He's got good taste," Dean said with a quick quirk of his lips.

She leaned over the seats and seemed to examine the boys, "You're John's boys." Sam turned, shocked, and Dean frowned, "How'd you know that?" She motioned to Sam's face, "You look like him a bit. Both of you do."

She tilted her head and looked at Dean, in time to see the car coming at them.

She pushed with her ability and made Dean floor the gas pedal. They barely missed the oncoming car.

Dean jerked as if struggling against the hold on his leg and she let go, he pressed the break hard and the car twirled to a stop. They watched as demon possessed people crawled out of the other car.

"Crap," Dean muttered and Maya nodded, "Just…hold onto the car okay?" Dean cranked the wheel and started to drive in the opposite way but another car pulled up and Demons came out.

"We're stuck," Sam said worriedly. "No shit Sam," Dean growled while he glanced into his rearview mirror.

He expected to see the demons almost on top of them, but instead eyes swirling with blue and purple lights met his. Maya smiled at the startled look on Dean's face.

"I told you, hang onto the car," Sam turned and looked with his brother, both holding onto the back of their seats.

"What the hell?" Dean said and then winds came from nowhere and swirled out of the car.

Lights blinded them and then covered their faces, hearing the screams of frustration from the demons, the car jerked and bucked and seemed to be tossed every which way. Dean swore a blue streak, while Sam merely clung to his seat for dear life, they could hear Maya laughing.

Suddenly there was another sharp jerk and the lights faded away with the wind. Dean and Sam blinked several times, trying to get their heads on straight again.

"Where are we?" Sam asked.

"MAYA!!!" A cry shouted and the brothers turned to see Ash run over to the car, a big grin on his face.

Maya was silent.

Dean glanced back and saw her passed out on the seat.

"Is she okay?" Ash asked worriedly from Sam's window. The brothers shook their heads together, confused.

"She teleported this whole damn car, how much of that juice did you give her?" Ash demanded, Sam glanced at their mullet haired friend, "Only a couple vials."

Ash's eyes widened, "We need to get more in her. She's completely wiped out of energy."

Maya stirred and seemed to be dragging her mind back to consciousness, "Ash?"

He smiled, "Yeah cuz, I'm here."

She smiled weakly, "We're in the back of the roadhouse then?"

"Yeap," her cousin said happily. Dean glanced around at their surroundings, "She seriously teleported us?"

"Yes, sir, I sure did," Maya said with a small smile.

Sam dug in his sack and brought out the jar of juice, "Here," he said and opened the top before handing it to her. She tried to reach for it but her hands were shaking badly with the effort.

Sam put the lid on and crawled over the seats, at Dean's protests, and sat next to her gently tipping the juice into her mouth and let her drink it down. She wrinkled her nose, but drank it down quickly. Ash and Dean got to work getting them out of the car after that. She sat on a bucket in the back of the roadhouse, drinking the rest of the juice and some shots of tequila Ash quickly brought out for her.

She half heartedly glared at Ash, "You sent two young hunters after me."

He smiled sheepishly, "They were the best we could think of."

She snorted and downed another shot of liquor, "Lovely."

Looking first at Dean and then Sam she grinned wanly, "Not that I don't appreciate it boys. I needed saving. That sucker took me off guard," She looked to Ash and said sadly, "I guess I can't retire huh?"

Ash shook his head, "No, I'm sorry cuz. Once the life has you, you're stuck."

She shrugged off the statement and stared at the empty jar for a minute, "Parker's dead."

Ash frowned at Dean and Sam, opening his mouth, "No Ash, they didn't do it. We're gonna get overrun with demons in a bit."

Ash looked worried for a second and glanced to his cousin before going inside, calling for Helen.

"He's a good boy, but dense. I've got enough energy to take care of it. But I'm sure this place is full of hunters. Would you boys block the front door for me?"

Dean and Sam nodded. "What are you going to do?" Sam asked.

She grinned ferociously up at him, "Rip them out of their human shields and send their asses back to hell."

Dean leaned close to Sam, "I kind of like her."

She winked at Dean, "Thank you sweety."

Then she stormed into the back door, with Sam and Dean following her.

She pointed them towards the front and they nodded to Helen when they leaned against the doorframe of the front door to the place.


	3. Chapter 3

A few minutes passed before Maya came back out.

"Hit the music Jo, I'm kicking some demon ass," Maya said as she marched through the main room and out the double doors.

The white gown and dark blue cloak had given way to something much more practical and at the same time flattering.

Decked out in black leather pants that were obviously well worn and gave to her movements, a plain black t-shirt with a high cut collar, a simple black hooded jacket zipped halfway up, all matched the raven black hair she had laced it into a braid and wrapped up into a knot on the base of her skull.

Bangs hung around her face and framed her arched brows and sharp jaw, set firmly as she stepped out the doors and faced the group of demons standing around in their possessed human bodies.

They each had weapons and were leering at her.

With the hexes gone Maya called up a storm and with her power, lightning was streaking across the sky with the winds blowing fiercely, the clouds rolling in and turning black as if to match Maya's mood.

Maya flung her arms out to her sides and revealed a set of matching silver blades had been hidden up her sleeves.

In an intricate dance of movement Maya was swirling and twirling through the group, jumping and slicing until each person was immobilized.

The music that blared out of the speakers, on top of the establishment, had been producing a quick beat song by some odd pop artist, the beat marking Maya's movements in a rhythmic pattern as she moved.

She started to summon the demons out of the humans, summoning deep roots to bind each body to the ground, and the winds she easily called up captured the smoke shaped demonic souls in tightly bound balls.

"This is the hard part," Jo said from behind Dean and Sam, who were standing in the doorway, effectively blocking the way out and getting a bird's eye view.

"Don't any of you even think of leaving," Helen remarked casually, "You'll kill yourselves and everyone out there."

The humans were mercifully asleep by Maya's command and didn't know that there were horrible winds and lightening swirling around them. "Why is this part the hard part?" Sam asked.

Dean couldn't seem to bring his eyes away from the sight of the girl standing in the middle of the conjured storm.

Many of the hunters were standing at the windows, while others sat at their seats, already knowing the abilities of the earth child outside, seeing smaller demonstrations before of what was happening now. In some cases, saving their hides from demonic onslaughts.

"She has to keep all those demons locked up and then split the earth in a symbol to capture them. Then she has to concentrate on what she can to send them back to hell. She doesn't use verses or spells. She just has the power," Jo answered quietly.

"The power," Sam echoed, almost a question.

"She's mother earth, boys," Helen said from behind the bar, "She can do just about anything. Heal, fight, banish, and track. She is the perfect hunter."

Many of the men rumbled disagreements, but were silenced when a glass smashed at the bar. Helen looked livid and about to shoot the heads off each disagreeing hunter, "You haven't seen anything that girl has done. What she sacrificed for people and what she's gone through just to save a single person from some demonic son of a bitch. So shut the hell up."

That seemed to silence them for now.

Dean jerked as another human possessed with a demon jumped out from the dark and started to attack Maya.

"Don't!" Jo said and with Sam's help was able to keep Dean inside.

"She can handle it," Jo said reassuringly.

Both boys looked at her doubtfully, but returned their attention to the outside.

The demon was trapped by roots right behind Maya and she glanced at him viciously, "Sorry, end of the line bub." And then with a jerk of her head the demon was forced out of the human, pouring from his mouth up into the sky, only to be captured by more winds.

She bound the demons and with a stomp of her foot the earth started to shake with the force of being split open. She had to stomp her foot a couple more times before the circle was finished.

She then moved the trapped demons into the circle. Small tornado-like whirlwinds slinked out of the sky and took up each human left and with a bright light each person and tunnel vanished.

"They're home," Helen said quietly at the mumbling from the hunters, silencing them.

Lightning struck the ground and caused the circle to flare into fire. Maya jerked and the winds holding the demons vanished, letting the demons lose within the large circle made out of the ground. The fires started growing, forming walls, and the storm intensified.

The walls of the bar started shaking with the force of the winds and you could see garbage and other paraphernalia jumped and twirled in the winds' strength.

"Maya gets weak after bindings, if she doesn't get back quick she'll loose the strength to do more than grasp to something before the winds suck her into the hole, then she…" Jo said, unable to finish her sentence.

Helen had come up behind them and put her hand on her daughter's shoulder, "Maya will get sucked into that fire pit and either get sucked into hell or at the least get singed. Last time she was able to hold onto a root for long enough to wait…but there weren't nearly as many of them. I don't think she's ever banished that many at once."

Sam did a quick mental count, "There were fifteen counting the one that popped in near the end there."

Dean's jaw clenched, as Maya fell to her knees and turned to grab onto a root that weakly lifted out of the ground for her to hold onto.

"Shit," Helen cursed and held onto her daughter more tightly, keeping her in place, "We can't go out there with the wind like this, we'll get sucked in."

Before anyone could stop him Dean jumped out the doorway and started to run for Maya.

He grabbed a rubber hose and tossed the nozzle around a post and with the winds force behind him he slid across the ground towards Maya. He grabbed her and she instantly curled up against him and with what energy she had left put both her hands, palm out, behind him and forced them backwards with huge puffs of air from her extended hands.

They swung on the hose and it snapped free as they made it around a car that was moving a little with the force of the winds.

"Dean!" Sam shouted and tried to look past the moving car.

"Those winds are getting worse, I hope this place stays intact," Helen muttered, leaning on the door's jamb with Jo held firmly against her mother. Sam was on the other side of the door trying to see his brother.

There was a bang against the bar's wall outside and Dean limped into view with Maya clinging to his back, her legs loosely hanging around Dean's hips and her arms clutching his shoulders.

Sometime during their struggle her hair had been pulled from its tightly tied bun and braid, it flowed out behind her now like a black shining banner.

"Sam!" Dean shouted, obviously running out of steam against the winds.

Sam jumped out the door and grabbed the hose that Dean tossed at him, tying it to a porch post and bracing himself against it while he pulled his brother and Maya closer to the house.

Dean limped faster and was able to make it back to the bar with Maya, who reached to Sam and relieved her weight from Dean. Dean grabbed onto the back of Sam's Jacket and let his brother drag them both into the door.

Jo and Helen took Dean's arm and dragged him in all the way with Sam taking Maya to a stool at the bar.

They were met with Ash waiting with more of the green drink for her, "You okay?"

She nodded and pushed Sam away from her half heartedly, "Dean has road rash from his daring stunt, bring him here."

Sam glanced at his brother and he saw why Dean had been limping, the left leg to his jeans had been ripped up on the side of his calf and you could see the ripped up flesh.

"CLOSE YOUR EYES," Maya suddenly shouted, "GET DOWN!!"

Jo and Helen closed their eyes and with a quick jerk of both of her arms in the direction of the other hunters that hadn't listened, Maya threw them to the ground with their shirts pulled over their heads, hoods pulled over their faces, hats down over their eyes, each mouth was clamped shut so all you could hear were the grunts from their strain against what was done to them.

Sam only kept staring so Maya jumped up and put her hands over his eyes.

She glanced over to Dean, "JO GET DEAN!"

Jo and Helen both put their hands over his face and hunched over his torso.

Sam put his hands over Maya's and she let him pull them off, sensing his closed eyes.

She herself was immune to the damaging rays and watched with smug relish as the demons were sucked up in the seal and sent to hell. The storm died quickly and as the light faded she released the hunters from their hold, "Clear!" She called and grinned at Ash who merely patted her on the back, "Good job cuz."

She nodded at the hunters who knew her and merely ignored the complaints from the few who didn't and had to endure her aggressive techniques to shut them away from the light.

Dean smirked at them and struggled to stand up, "Can you fix me up Maya?"

She nodded and motioned for him to sit at the bar with her, as she took her seat next to Ash she felt his grip on her elbow and turned slightly towards him.

"You have enough left to heal?" She shrugged him and his question off, not caring, "They saved me," She said simply and turned to the limping Dean.

She took his face in her hands and frowned, "Crap. I have…um," she glanced to Jo and Helen at a loss for words.

Helen shrugged, "Not like he won't like it, and it's not like you haven't had to do worse either for a healing after draining yourself like that." Jo nodded and winked at her.

Both Dean and Sam frowned at the other women, not paying attention to Maya.

At least Dean wasn't until she tilted his head so he was looking at her again and kissed him square on the mouth.

Her eyes started to glow green and blue, swirling colors in the depths of her iris and soon Dean's eyes matched her own.

"That's how you know she isn't just being weird," Ash said casually to the shocked Sam. Sam closed his mouth and looked to Ash. Ash shrugged, "The colors, magic, in her eyes. It goes from her to the person she's touching, and then it shows in whatever wound she's healing. It's a transfer, the only way she can heal when she doesn't have the strength to just manipulate the body's system to heal itself."

Maya pulled away from Dean and then wrinkled her nose, "Ew," she turned and found the glass of green juice waiting for her. She downed it quickly before turning back to the questioning look on Dean and Sam's faces, "You guys need to start drinking something other than cheep beer. It's beyond gross."

She sounded so normal, almost young, when she said this. It made Ash, Helen and Jo smile.

The two women turned to look at the hunters who were standing awkwardly in the bar.

"It's safe to leave," Helen said, "Your cars might have been pushed around a little but nothing too damaging."

Dean's eyes got wide and he opened his mouth, but Maya clamped a hand over his mouth before he could speak.

"It's fine," she whispered before letting him go. She had a warning in her eyes and barely shook her head but glanced the same warning at Sam, telling him to keep quiet.

"That girl is a god send," a hunter said suddenly from where he'd been sitting the whole time, "Anyone who feels another way can get the hell out and let the rest of us drink in peace."

Several of the men standing nodded and sat back down while others huffed and stormed out of the doors.

Maya tilted her head and grinned, "That's why you don't let a group of hunters know what car you drive. They're easy to make into hot heads." She bowed her head at the ones remaining, "Minus the more level and seasoned ones."

There were a couple "here here's" and lifting of their drinks to salute her, before the bar returned to its normal buzz.

"My father was a hunter," she quietly explained to Sam and Dean, "He met my mother…the previous Earth Spirit, when she passed on she passed her powers and spirit to me."

Dean raised an eye brow at that, while he massaged the previously hurt leg and found that his jeans had also been mended.

Sam sat on the seat next to his brother and Helen put a beer in front of each.

Maya wrinkled her nose at the drinks, "Well I'm going to go wash up and change."

Ash grabbed her arm when she faltered and stumbled. She smiled at him wanly and let him put her arm over his shoulder and help her to the back.

"Is she going to be okay?" Dean asked Helen. She nodded and started to clean up a little while some of the hunters left leaving large tips and muttered thanks.

Any sensible hunter knew that there had been too many demons and it would have been a massacre to have killed all those people.

Not to mention the amount of hunters they might have lost.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note-- This is kind of tricky for me to write and I made a dozen blunders, but hopefully the next few chapters will make up for it ^^" I ended up changing my mind a bit about some of the key components so its all jigsaw puzzle like....sorry 3

---------

Jo cut off the music and put on the regular country that usually rumbled with the talk of the bar. Dean and Sam had finished their drinks when Ash came back out.

"She went out back," he whispered to the boys and Helen. She nodded and Dean stood up with the beer Helen handed to him, "Be nice," she said stiffly and patted Sam's arm reassuringly.

Ash took Dean's spot and started to talk to Sam, but couldn't distract him enough to keep him from watching Dean go into the back.

The older Winchester found his way easily out to the back of the establishment and grinned at the sight of his Impala. "Hey, you're safe," he said happily to his car.

"I wouldn't let anything happen to it," Maya said from the other side.

She was leaning against the black car. Dean took a second to take in the faded jeans that hugged her flatteringly with patches of missing fabric all over them. Her blue eyes were so pale as to look close to white in the sunlight, but were now shadowed and sad in the dark of night.

"I'm sorry you got hurt," she said quietly as he came around the car.

The shirt she had on was blue but the neckline dipped down low and revealed a lot of cleavage as well as the tattoos across her chest just below her collar bone.

"What are those?" Dean asked. She absently touched the marks, "Family mark."

He leaned against the car next to her, studying her face. "What do you have to be sorry for? You healed me. We were doing something for Ash and you turned out to be kind of valuable anyway."

She frowned, "I'm a supernatural being. Most hunters hate things like me. I'm a freak, freak of nature. Despite the fact that my spirit has been around longer than mankind they still see to say I'm 'Unnatural'," she half sneered at the darkness.

Dean glanced at her face, "How is that even possible?"

She blinked, startled by the question, before looking up at him, "I can show you, but it's hard to explain."

He smirked, "Do you have to kiss me again?" She rolled her eyes, "No, but it'd be easier."

That seemed to make Dean a little serious, his smirk sliding away, "You aren't a freak to me. Strong as hell, but not a freak."

She looked at her stiff combat boots as she toed the dirt a little, "Thanks for saving me Dean."

He leaned over and touched her chin and lifted her gaze to meet his.

"Show me," he said quietly.

She nodded and pressed her forehead against his, never releasing his gaze. Soon both their eyes were dancing with the same light from before, when it finally stopped, they both blinked rapidly and rubbed their eyes. She had shown him as much as she saw safe to show him of the memories of Earth even a little before time had started in this galaxy.

Dean slid to the ground with a thud and just sat there for a second.

"The dizziness goes away after a moment. Take a drink of your beer," Maya said quietly and sat next to him.

Dean took a few deep drinks before turning to her, "That was intense." She nodded, "It's hard to explain but different when I just give you the experience I had when it was given to me."

His eyebrows rose up, "You had to go through that? It wasn't just natural or whatever? I mean, you just showed me the beginning of time. That's some really deep stuff."

She smiled and shook her head, "I was a normal girl for the first years of my life, at least for the most part. I didn't know what I was but I had abilities."

Dean just took another drink of his beer, listening to Maya quietly. They heard the back door open and Ash's voice traveled to them, "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay Ashy," Maya replied.

There was a snicker that was distinctly Sam and then a muttering string of curses from Ash.

"Hey Dean, are we staying here for the night?" Sam called. Dean glanced at Maya who merely kept looking at her shoes.

"I'll get back to you on that Sammy!" There were footsteps and then the door closed.

"My mother said to me before she died, that there would be a choice. One of the light, one of the dark, vessels of things beyond the Earth, but that in the end time would be the deciding factor. Whichever I did choose would result with the power of God given to an unexpected source," Maya shrugged, "I think she was talking about you and your brother, you two have something to do with it. Her spirit just speaks to me when I look at you two and I hear those words again, that's the only way I know it's you."

She glanced at Dean's very confused expression and she laughed, "Don't take it too seriously. It's mostly symbolic."

She giggled and covered her mouth, "God I should have just said no to those shots of Tequila Ash handed me." Dean snorted, "Mother Nature gets a buzz."

"Doesn't it just make ya smile and feel a little better about the world? Even Mother Nature gets drunk and parties. Heck, I'm not a saintly virgin. I even strip danced once," she laughed as Dean almost snorted beer out his nose, "Yep. Not a saint. Just a girl, no matter what power I have."

"You're human. When you get down to it, you are just a human girl, right?" With a sigh Maya stood and dusted the dirt off her butt, glancing at Dean. "You can think whatever you want, but in the end I am who I am. There's nothing the demons or hunters can do to change that. No one can change it." She shrugged, "Believe me they did horrible things to me. In the end no one can break a spirit that's infused with eons full of spirits." She touched a couple of the tattoos, "that's what these are. They go with the power."

She touched the first one and it started to glow blue around the edges, then her face seemed to shimmer and suddenly she was a darker colored girl with high cheek bones, she had a ton of tattooed markings on her face and body. She was taller, the modern clothes had vanished and she was clad scantly in furs and beads, "This is the first human vessel for the spirit of the Earth," the woman said, the voice no longer Maya's.

She touched the next mark and suddenly a much shorter girl of Native American decent was standing, the outfit of furs thicker and the face was stouter. Both the eyes had never changed color from Maya's, the almost white blue color stayed.

Then the other tattoo was touched and this time it was a pale girl with tons of freckles and a very child-like face.

"These are the faces of the strongest of the women," the girl said, the pitch of her voice high. "The one I have now was only seventeen when she died. She healed many people during the scarlet fever breakout. She was a great healer."

Now the last one she touched was a woman who looked a lot like Maya, "this is my mother."

She smiled sadly at the reflection of her face in the car's window. Dean seemed almost in pain as he watched her touch her face, "It's so weird how we look alike. Most of the time the girl's take on the father's looks, and there is always an out of place father. They didn't know of the demons and spooks that plagued the girls they married before. This time though, my father, he was just different. It was the mark that my mother was a very powerful person. They made many friends with the hunters and she was strong like I am. I doubt she would not have been able to do what I did today, that was really dumb of me to try, to be honest. She ended up being a great bridge between the supernatural world and mankind, hunters learned a lot from her," the woman glanced at Dean, "your father was one of them. He came to my mother a while after your mother died seeking answers. She helped him compile a book full of information."

Maya, as she was born to look, shimmered back into reality. She suddenly sat down and put her head between her knees, "Dizzy," she muttered to Dean when he started to reach out to her.

"You used up too much energy," he said quietly. "Uh huh," she agreed and glanced up with a smile, "Worth it though."

Dean grinned and patted her hands, "I forgot to ask. How old are you Maya?" She slowly raised her head, blinking, then answered, "25, why?" He shook his head, but was smiling none the less. "So your mom helped him make my dad's journal?"

She nodded, "She saw you boys and knew what would happen. The Earth knows a lot."

Time passed between the two as everything Maya had said sunk in Dean's head.

"Are you staying with us?" She asked after a while. He shrugged, "Dunno. Do you have room?"

"At my own place, I did, but I doubt the demons have left it unwatched," then she sighed.

"Sammy and I can crash in the car, it's all right," he said, "Or we can hit the road and try to find a motel." Maya made a noncommittal noise, before turning and kissing Dean's cheek.

She stood up and started to leave, "Do what you want."

Dean looked after her for a second then said, "Wait."

Maya froze and let Dean stand up and grab her elbow, turning her around to look at him, "What was that?"

She shrugged, "You don't want to go after Jo because you genuinely like her."

Dean frowned, "What?"

She grinned, "You don't go after girls you actually like." Then she pulled away, "But I wonder if you go after girls you didn't think to like, but show they like you? Besides, you're my type of guy." She winked and before he could speak again she opened the door to find Sam reaching to open it, "He's all yours Sam."

Sam watched her go for a second before turning to see Dean down the rest of his beer with a look of complete confusion.

"What was that about?" Sam asked.

Dean wiped his mouth, "I have no clue, man. That chick is so full of…" he motioned to everything surrounding them, "There's just a lot to her," he muttered finally.

Sam laughed and let the door close, crossing his arms and leaning against it, "You like her?"

Dean rubbed the back of his head, "I didn't think I did. At least not like that. But then she…" he seemed lost for a moment, "Damn it Sammy. All she did was kiss my cheek and I'm completely confused. I haven't been this confused about a chick since, well…I haven't…and over a stupid kiss on the damn cheek."

Sam shrugged, "She kissed you earlier."

Dean shook his head, "No that's different. That threw me out of my own head for a minute. I could actually SEE her power healing me."

"That's weird dude," Sam said.

"Ya think?" Dean countered, walking around the front of the car and leaning against the side. "I want to like her, but I don't want to. It's not all about her being a supe either," Dean said half to himself.

Sam stepped over and leaned against the car with his brother, "Maybe it's because you didn't see how human she was until you were alone with her?"

Dean frowned, "What do you know about her?"

He was genuinely curious and watched the guilt kind of cross Sam's face before he stood up straight, "Other hunters were possessed before and have hurt her. As a kid one kidnapped her and did horrible and unthinkable things to her. She was eight," Sam said seeming to have trouble saying what he'd learned.

"Tortured, raped, beaten, you name it she's had to deal with it more than once, throughout her whole life," Same said quietly.

Dean's expression had darkened and he wouldn't stop glaring at the door to the bar, "Tell me they're dead."

"Oh yeah, her mom rained hell on them," Sam answered, "They didn't understand at first why she was so special and why they kept trying to take her away and damage her but not kill her."

"It's because she's stronger than the rest were," Dean said mildly.

"Yep, she's the strongest so far. Plus she has a prophecy attached to her apparently. She's supposed to bring the first male of their kind into the world. There's never been a male Earth Spirit. She'll have more than one kid too, and that's unspeakable. It actually throws the whole balance of the Earth Spirit off," Sam said, "On top of that it also has something to do with a choice between two people. Though, it is all kind of vague, it has to do with choosing between good and bad."

Dean frowned and looked at his brother for a second, putting what Maya had said before together with what Sam was saying.

"Shit," he cursed and went for the door.

"What is it?" Sam asked, following Dean into the back door.

Maya was sitting at the bar, talking with Ash. She froze when she saw the expressions on the brother's faces. Then she looked tiredly at Ash, "What did you tell Sam?"

Ash shifted uncomfortably under her gaze and wouldn't look up. Maya seemed to close out the world and her eyes saw more in Ash than visible as she listened to something only she and Ash heard.

When she looked up to Sam and Dean she rolled her eyes, "Terrific," she pinched Ash's thigh and made him yelp while she moved around the bar and motioned back towards the door they'd just came through, "Outside."

"Maya…" Helen called a warning tone in her voice. Maya waved her off and kept herding the two through the backdoor.

Dean made to open his mouth and start in on whatever he was thinking, but Maya lifted her hand and his mouth clamped shut. "Shoosh, get outside first," she said and released his jaw.

Sam smiled apologetically, "I'm sorry I didn't know that was something Ash should have kept to himself…though really after I think about it, it is kind of personal."

She nodded and patted Sam, "It's okay sweety, you didn't know. Ash has a big mouth." She said that last loudly before slamming the door closed and following the brothers back to Dean's car.

The older brother glowered at Maya and she stood with her hip cocked to the side and her arms crossed under her breasts.

"Go ahead, let it out," she said irritably.

Dean crossed his own arms and stood in front of her, "What did your mom mean?"

She dropped her hands and let her arms hang loosely at her sides.

"I don't know," she said almost defensively.

"What did those demons do to you?"He asked. She shrugged and wouldn't look up from the ground, "a lot of things."

Dean faltered a minute, swallowing down his anger, "One of those happen to be the fact that if they got you pregnant then you'd have a demonic half breed with the abilities of the earth?"

Maya started and jerked her head up, the expression of incredulousness etched painfully in her face, "You stupid jerk. NO. Do you know how many times I turned their bodies into decaying flesh for touching me? I did my own torturing but Ash doesn't ever mention that."

She was half snarling by the time she stopped talking, her fists clench tightly at her sides.

"I didn't let them just flee from their chosen hosts and I tortured them when I was pushed beyond my limit of consciousness and when my subconscious came in they suffered so much that by the time my mother would arrive they were half dead!"

Electricity was jumping around in her hair and sparks were flying all over her skin.

"Maya, it's my fault for even telling him," Sam started but she shook her head.

"He chooses his words," she snarled, "What else?"

Dean lowered his gaze to her boots, "Your mother said more than what you told me." She took a step back, the electricity vanishing, "You put that together?"

He nodded and made eye contact, "It's why you're confused."

She nodded, "I don't know which of you is who. I kind of want to just follow my own feelings and say screw the so called prophecy but really I don't think I'm allowed such leisure. The first of the women I showed you earlier fell in love and was almost destroyed by this prophecy. It's why I'm a little lost."

Sam was frowning and looking from one person to the other as they spoke.

Dean jerked his head at Sam, "What do you get off him?"

She wrinkled her nose, "Blood that is not merely human." She blinked, startled, and saw that Sam and Dean were also taken off guard.

"Well that sucks, Sam. You are for the most part human but just a little more than that is in your blood. It's really faint but it's still there none the less," she said.

The frown seemed to deepen and her eyes looked like she was seeing something far away, "There's something weird about your birthday. Bad things, something about you both dying but still living and I can't see but there's someone…," then she blinked again and slowly sank to the ground and sat with her knees tucked up to her chest.

Dean crouched down next to her, she glanced at him and let his arm wrap around her shoulders, leaning against him.

She smiled a little before it faded, "Earth spirits can see into the future sometimes, because of what we are time is different for us. I don't want either of you to have to go through what you are going to…I'm sorry for future reference."

Dean hugged her tighter, "It's okay, we're even. I got to make you mad and scare the crap out of you." She snickered and pulled back enough to see Sam.

"I'm sorry Sam, but I have to keep you in the dark sweety," She waved a hand at him and he dropped like a rock, but roots shot up out of the earth and caught him, lowering him slowly. Dean turned and watched for a moment before turning back to the strange girl in his arms.

"Slick," he said with a grin. Before she could do more than shrug she found her mouth assaulted by Dean's.

When they finally broke apart Maya made a face at him, "Seriously reconsider the beer. It's nasty."

Dean chuckled, "Sorry."

"What did you do to Sam?" Dean asked quietly, enjoying just hanging onto the solid figure of the sweet girl in his arms.

"I erased his memory. I'll tell him he came out and got jumped by an angry hunter, and I'll tell Ash and the others to keep their mouths shut about my past." They sat in silence for a bit. Dean kept touching the raven black hair that framed her face, sometimes sliding his finger down her cheek or just pushing the hair back behind her ear, even though it wouldn't stay.

She was tired, but he could see she still strong inside.

"Let's wake up Sam and I'll get you guys situated to stay here," she said.

He sighed, nodded, then helped her wake Sam up. They told him that an angry hunter had snuck up behind him and smacked him on the head before they knew he was there. Maya claimed to have healed him and he was fine.

Sam nodded and asked what he came out for.

"Checking to see if we were going to go find a motel or stay, I told you I'd get back to you before, but Maya convinced me it'd be safer to stay here."

Dean nudged Maya playfully who grinned at Sam innocently.

Maya went ahead of them and warned Ash, Jo and Helen to NOT talk to the brothers about her past. It was her own past to tell and if she chose not to it was her own business.

Ash muttered an apology, while Jo and Helen merely shrugged and agreed.

"Sam's gonna bunk on the spare cot with Ash," Maya told the brothers when they came in.

"I have my own room," she continued, "So Dean can either stay with Helen or me."

She grinned at the older woman, who chuckled but didn't stop cleaning up. Jo was smiling as she went to clean off the tables.

Sam glanced at Dean, trying not to smile as well.

Ash turned and shrugged, "I'd say you could stay in my room but there's barely enough for a cot for Sam."

Maya wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Well there WOULD be Ashy, but you have so much crap all over that room it takes up almost half of it."

Ash gave Maya a cold and annoyed look, but she merely smiled back at him.

"Well I think I'll stay with Maya," Dean said slowly, unsure if Helen would take on the role of a protective mother.

Helen snorted, "Good I don't want you in my room."


End file.
